{{cadis17congtoc14}}{{tnr}}The '''[[California's 17th Congressional District|17th Congressional District of California]]''' will hold an election for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] on November 4, 2014.

{{cadis17congtoc14}}{{tnr}}The '''[[California's 17th Congressional District|17th Congressional District of California]]''' will hold an election for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] on November 4, 2014.

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Incumbent [[Mike Honda]] (D) and [[Ro Khanna]] (D) defeated [[Vanila Singh]] (R) and [[Joel Vanlandingham]] (R) in the primary election on June 3, 2014. Honda and Khanna will face off in the general election in what is likely to be a very close race.

{{Congintro2014

{{Congintro2014

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|Filing deadline=February 20, 2014

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|Filing deadline=March 7, 2014

|Primary date=June 3, 2014

|Primary date=June 3, 2014

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|Primary=California has a [[Blanket primary|top-two primary]] system, in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, go on to the general election.

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|Primary={{Caprimarytype}}

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|Voter registration=''Pending''

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|Voter registration={{Ca voter registration}}

|State=California

|State=California

|Incumbent=Heading into the election the incumbent is [[Mike Honda]] (D), who was first elected in 2000.

|Incumbent=Heading into the election the incumbent is [[Mike Honda]] (D), who was first elected in 2000.

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==Candidates==

==Candidates==

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{{Cong 2014 cand early}}{{cacong17cand14}}

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{{cacong17cand14}}

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==Primary results==

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{{CA17primary2014}}

==Race background==

==Race background==

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''Politico'' published a list in August 2013 of the five primaries to watch in 2014. [[California's 17th Congressional District]] was included on the list.<ref name="five">[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/house-of-representatives-primary-elections-95315.html ''Politico,'' "5 House primaries to watch," Accessed August 8, 2013]</ref>

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''Politico'' published a list in August 2013 of the five primaries to watch in 2014. [[California's 17th Congressional District]] was included on the list.<ref name="five">[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/house-of-representatives-primary-elections-95315.html ''Politico'', "5 House primaries to watch," accessed August 8, 2013]</ref>

[[Mike Honda]] (D) is regarded on [[Congress|Capitol Hill]] as a well-liked and congenial figure who coasts to victory every other year.<ref name="five"/>

[[Mike Honda]] (D) is regarded on [[Congress|Capitol Hill]] as a well-liked and congenial figure who coasts to victory every other year.<ref name="five"/>

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Challenger [[Ro Khanna]], who has taught at Stanford University and works at a Silicon Valley law firm, is tapping a vast network of tech donors to give [[Mike Honda|Honda]] a surprisingly tough fight in 2014.<ref name="five"/> During the second quarter of 2013, [[Ro Khanna|the challenger]] raised over $1 million and reported having $1.7 million cash on hand — more than four times the amount Honda had.<ref name="five"/> Khanna went on to raise $504,450 in the third quarter and reported having $1.9 million on hand.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/ro-khanna-mike-honda-election-fundraising-97984.html ''Politico,'' "Ro Khanna raises $500K in bid against Mike Honda," October 8, 2013]</ref> [[Ro Khanna|Khanna]] has built a formidable operation filled with veterans of [[Barack Obama]]’s presidential campaigns, including Jeremy Bird, Obama’s national field director in 2012, and David Binder, one of the president’s pollsters.<ref name="five"/>

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Challenger [[Ro Khanna]], who has taught at Stanford University and works at a Silicon Valley law firm, is tapping a vast network of tech donors to give [[Mike Honda|Honda]] a surprisingly tough fight in 2014.<ref name="five"/> During the second quarter of 2013, [[Ro Khanna|the challenger]] raised over $1 million and reported having $1.7 million cash on hand — more than four times the amount Honda had.<ref name="five"/> Khanna went on to raise $504,450 in the third quarter and reported having $1.9 million on hand.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/ro-khanna-mike-honda-election-fundraising-97984.html ''Politico'', "Ro Khanna raises $500K in bid against Mike Honda," October 8, 2013]</ref> [[Ro Khanna|Khanna]] has built a formidable operation filled with veterans of [[Barack Obama]]’s presidential campaigns, including Jeremy Bird, Obama’s national field director in 2012, and David Binder, one of the president’s pollsters.<ref name="five"/>

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[[Mike Honda|Honda]] has the [[Barack Obama|president’s]] endorsement — and the backing of Democratic power brokers such as House Minority Leader [[Nancy Pelosi]] and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel.<ref name="five"/> While [[Ro Khanna|Khanna]] is likely to draw support from Silicon Valley’s large Indian-American population, [[Mike Honda|Honda]] enjoys long-standing ties to the Asian-American community, which makes up nearly half the district.<ref name="five"/>

The race is almost certain to extend beyond the June 3 primary.<ref name="five"/> Under California’s newly implemented “Top-Two” system, the top two finishers advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.<ref name="five"/>

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[[Mike Honda|Honda]] has President [[Barack Obama|Barack Obama's]] endorsement — and the backing of Democratic power brokers such as House Minority Leader [[Nancy Pelosi]] and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel.<ref name="five"/> While [[Ro Khanna|Khanna]] is likely to draw support from Silicon Valley’s large Indian-American population, [[Mike Honda|Honda]] enjoys long-standing ties to the Asian-American community, which makes up nearly half the district.<ref name="five"/>

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The race will extend beyond the June 3 primary due to California's [[blanket primary]] and will likely be one of the country's most expensive.<ref name="five"/> Under California’s newly implemented “Top-Two” system, the top two finishers in the primary advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.<ref name="five"/>

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===Sham candidates===

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On March 24, 2014, a member of the Alameda County Republican Central Committee filed a lawsuit claiming that two Republican candidates in the race were sham candidates attempting to split the Republican vote, causing no Republican to advance to the general election. The lawsuit charged that [[Joel Vanlandingham]] and [[Vinesh Singh Rathore]], two Republican candidates who filed at the last minute, were "sham" candidates attempting to take votes from [[Vanila Singh]].<ref>[http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/03/california-republican-party-official-files-lawsuit-asserting-that-two-republican-congressional-candidates-are-sham-candidates-and-should-be-removed-from-ballot/ ''Ballot Access News'', "California Republican Party Official Files Lawsuit, Asserting that Two Republican Congressional Candidates are “Sham” Candidates and Should be Removed from Ballot," March 27, 2014]</ref>

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[[Vinesh Singh Rathore]] was removed from the ballot on March 26, 2014, by a Superior Court in Sacramento on the grounds that he only collected 38 of the required 40 valid nominating signatures. [[Joel Vanlandingham]] remained on the ballot, because no legal reason was found to remove him.<ref>[http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/03/one-so-called-sham-republican-is-removed-from-california-primary-ballot/ ''Ballot Access News'', "One So-Called “Sham” Republican is Removed from California Primary Ballot," March 27, 2014]</ref>

==Issues==

==Issues==

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=====Government shutdown=====

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===Campaign spending===

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On January 23, 2014, challenger [[Ro Khanna]] sent a letter to [[Mike Honda]] proposing that the candidates should take a pledge limiting spending in the race from outside groups and Super PACs. In response, Honda's campaign replied with a letter that raised the stakes, proposing a donation limit of $570.<ref name=letter>[https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B99k6QrlThx6anMtZjI5MFZPbUU/edit ''Letter from Ro Khanna to Congressman Mike Honda,'' January 23, 2014]</ref>

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The letter stated, "We propose that all campaigns refund contributions to any donors who have already given more than this limit of $570. Your campaign can start by refunding the $11,000 in contributions from the five donors who have already requested a refund because Ro misled them. He had asked for their max-out contributions to run for an open seat, then used their money to run in a different district -- against Mike."<ref name=letter/>

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The letter continued, "Then your campaign can continue by refunding contributions to Marc Leder (gave $5,200 to Ro) who hosted Mitt Romney for the fundraiser where he made his 47% remark, and Peter Thiel (gave $2,500 to Ro) who has given millions to the Club for Growth in order to elect far-right conservatives like Ted Cruz."<ref name=letter/>

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==Key votes==

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Below are important votes the current incumbent cast during the [[113th Congress]].

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===Government shutdown===

:: ''See also: [[United States budget debate, 2013]]''

:: ''See also: [[United States budget debate, 2013]]''

{{oppose vote}}

{{oppose vote}}

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On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll504.xml ''Clerk of the U.S. House,'' "Final vote results for Roll Call 504," accessed October 31, 2013]</ref> At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. [[Harry Reid]] rejected the call to conference.<ref>[http://www.buzzfeed.com/katenocera/government-shutdown-how-we-got-here?bffb ''Buzzfeed'', "Government Shutdown: How We Got Here," accessed October 1, 2013]</ref> [[Mike Honda]] voted against the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll504.xml ''Clerk of the U.S. House,'' "Final vote results for Roll Call 504," accessed October 31, 2013]</ref>

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On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll504.xml ''Clerk of the U.S. House'', "Final vote results for Roll Call 504," accessed October 31, 2013]</ref> At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. [[Harry Reid]] rejected the call to conference.<ref>[http://www.buzzfeed.com/katenocera/government-shutdown-how-we-got-here?bffb ''Buzzfeed'', "Government Shutdown: How We Got Here," accessed October 1, 2013]</ref> [[Mike Honda]] voted against the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll504.xml ''Clerk of the U.S. House'', "Final vote results for Roll Call 504," accessed October 31, 2013]</ref>

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{{support vote}} The shutdown finally ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the [[United States Senate|Senate]]. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funds the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by [[United States Senate|Senate Democrats]] was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-effort-to-end-fiscal-crisis-collapses-leaving-senate-to-forge-last-minute-solution/2013/10/16/1e8bb150-364d-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story_1.html ''The Washington Post'', "Reid, McConnell propose bipartisan Senate bill to end shutdown, extend borrowing," accessed October 16, 2013]</ref> The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from [[Republican]] members. [[Mike Honda] voted for HR 2775.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll550.xml ''U.S. House,'' "Final vote results for Roll Call 550," accessed October 31, 2013]</ref>

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{{support vote}} The shutdown finally ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the [[United States Senate|Senate]]. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by [[United States Senate|Senate Democrats]] was to require income verification for [[Obamacare]] subsidies.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-effort-to-end-fiscal-crisis-collapses-leaving-senate-to-forge-last-minute-solution/2013/10/16/1e8bb150-364d-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story_1.html ''The Washington Post'', "Reid, McConnell propose bipartisan Senate bill to end shutdown, extend borrowing," accessed October 16, 2013]</ref> The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from [[Republican]] members. [[Mike Honda] voted for HR 2775.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll550.xml ''U.S. House'', "Final vote results for Roll Call 550," accessed October 31, 2013]</ref>

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==Endorsements==

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===Mike Honda===

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Honda received the endorsement of the Democratic Party in a local vote on February 8, 2014.<ref>[http://mikehonda.com/rep-mike-honda-receives-92-of-votes-from-ca-17-democrats-for-state-party-endorsement-in-re-election-campaign/ ''Campaign website'', "Rep. Mike Honda Receives 92% of Votes from CA-17 Democrats for State Party Endorsement of Re-Election Campaign," February 10, 2014]</ref>

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Honda also received the endorsement of the [[League of Conservation Voters]].<ref>[http://www.lcv.org/media/press-releases/LCV-Action-Fund-Endorses-Congressman-Mike-Honda-for-Re-Election.html ''League of Conservation Voters,'' "LCV Action Fund endorses Congressman Mike Honda for re-election," March 6, 2014]</ref>

On November 6, 2012, [[Mike Honda]] (D) won re-election to the [[United States House]]. He defeated [[Evelyn Li]] in the general election.

On November 6, 2012, [[Mike Honda]] (D) won re-election to the [[United States House]]. He defeated [[Evelyn Li]] in the general election.

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{{cadis17genelecbox12}}

{{cadis17genelecbox12}}

===2010===

===2010===

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On November 2, 2010, [[Sam Farr]] won re-election to the [[United States House]]. He defeated Jeff Taylor, Eric Petersen and Mary V. Larkin in the general election.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2010election.pdf ''U.S. Congress House Clerk'' "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010"]</ref>

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{{cadis17genelecbox10}}

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{{Election box 2010

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|party= General

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|Chamber=U.S. House, California District 17 General Election

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|party1=Democratic

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|party2=Republican

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|party3=Green

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|party4=Libertarian

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|winner1 = Sam Farr

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|candidate2 = Jeff Taylor

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|candidate3 = Eric Petersen

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|candidate4 = Mary V. Larkin

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|votes1=118734

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|votes2=53176

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|votes3=3397

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|votes4=2742

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|Inc1=Y

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}}

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==See also==

==See also==

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==External links==

==External links==

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*[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/us/asian-american-diversity-in-potential-california-race.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ''New York Times'' "Rivalries Begin to Emerge in a New Seat of Power," February 26, 2013]

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*[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/us/asian-american-diversity-in-potential-california-race.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ''New York Times'', "Rivalries Begin to Emerge in a New Seat of Power," February 26, 2013]

Primary: California is one of three states to use a blanket primary, or top-two system, which allows all candidates to run and all voters to vote but only moves the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to the general election.[3][4][5]

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by May 19, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 20, 2014 (the 15th calendar day before that election).[6]

Challenger Ro Khanna, who has taught at Stanford University and works at a Silicon Valley law firm, is tapping a vast network of tech donors to give Honda a surprisingly tough fight in 2014.[9] During the second quarter of 2013, the challenger raised over $1 million and reported having $1.7 million cash on hand — more than four times the amount Honda had.[9] Khanna went on to raise $504,450 in the third quarter and reported having $1.9 million on hand.[10]Khanna has built a formidable operation filled with veterans of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, including Jeremy Bird, Obama’s national field director in 2012, and David Binder, one of the president’s pollsters.[9]

Honda has President Barack Obama's endorsement — and the backing of Democratic power brokers such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel.[9] While Khanna is likely to draw support from Silicon Valley’s large Indian-American population, Honda enjoys long-standing ties to the Asian-American community, which makes up nearly half the district.[9]

The race will extend beyond the June 3 primary due to California's blanket primary and will likely be one of the country's most expensive.[9] Under California’s newly implemented “Top-Two” system, the top two finishers in the primary advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.[9]

Sham candidates

On March 24, 2014, a member of the Alameda County Republican Central Committee filed a lawsuit claiming that two Republican candidates in the race were sham candidates attempting to split the Republican vote, causing no Republican to advance to the general election. The lawsuit charged that Joel Vanlandingham and Vinesh Singh Rathore, two Republican candidates who filed at the last minute, were "sham" candidates attempting to take votes from Vanila Singh.[12]

Vinesh Singh Rathore was removed from the ballot on March 26, 2014, by a Superior Court in Sacramento on the grounds that he only collected 38 of the required 40 valid nominating signatures. Joel Vanlandingham remained on the ballot, because no legal reason was found to remove him.[13]

Issues

Campaign spending

On January 23, 2014, challenger Ro Khanna sent a letter to Mike Honda proposing that the candidates should take a pledge limiting spending in the race from outside groups and Super PACs. In response, Honda's campaign replied with a letter that raised the stakes, proposing a donation limit of $570.[14]

The letter stated, "We propose that all campaigns refund contributions to any donors who have already given more than this limit of $570. Your campaign can start by refunding the $11,000 in contributions from the five donors who have already requested a refund because Ro misled them. He had asked for their max-out contributions to run for an open seat, then used their money to run in a different district -- against Mike."[14]

The letter continued, "Then your campaign can continue by refunding contributions to Marc Leder (gave $5,200 to Ro) who hosted Mitt Romney for the fundraiser where he made his 47% remark, and Peter Thiel (gave $2,500 to Ro) who has given millions to the Club for Growth in order to elect far-right conservatives like Ted Cruz."[14]

Key votes

Below are important votes the current incumbent cast during the 113th Congress.

Government shutdown

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.[15] At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference.[16]Mike Honda voted against the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.[17]

The shutdown finally ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[18] The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. [[Mike Honda] voted for HR 2775.[19]

Endorsements

Mike Honda

Honda received the endorsement of the Democratic Party in a local vote on February 8, 2014.[20]

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org